Tim Brough's Black Leather Bookshelf

Giving Fruitcakes to Friends
3 Out of 5 Stars

Jimmy Buffet had his schtick down so perfectly that his legions of Parrotheads would/will pick up on anything the man does, good bad or indifferent. "Fruitcakes," issued in 1994, is one of the better of his middle period of albums, and channels the world where the summer never ends, the margaritas are always fresh and the Caribbean music rolls easy 24/7. However, Buffet sounds more inspired than usual, delivering patter worthy of his stage show and maybe even taking a chance or two.

The most inspired moments on "Fruitcakes" are the title song and an unusual choice of covers. He gives a rant that ends in a Network cast Howard Beale "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" that has more to do with not wanting giant cherry sodas at the movie complex before musically diving into politics, religion and "your tax dollars at work." Of course all he really wants is for his pals to all just relax and take it easy.

Then there's his reggae-fication of The Grateful Dead's "Uncle John's Band," shape shifting the song from its country folk roots into a loping groove that any Parrothead could love. Then again, I never saw that much light between Deadheads and Parrotheads, which may be why the transition in style works so well. Things are a little different on The Kinks' "Sunday Afternoon." Instead of Ray Davies' mournful tale of societal and marital woes, Buffet takes to the life of luxury and makes it sound like a day of sipping Colas under the palm trees. Davies would have done anything to get back his old life where Buffet makes it just another day at the party.

The rest of the tracks are pretty much standard Buffet fare, with love songs to his family ("Delaney Talks to Statues"), living the carefree life ("Lone Palm") and tongue in cheek shoreline humor ("Apocalypso"). It's nothing you haven't heard Buffet do a million times over, but "Fruitcakes" sounded genuinely engaging and still holds up fairly well today.



This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Inside Job
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The Kooks are one of the many bands to rise from the wake of the Arctic Monkeys' success, with "Inside in/Inside Out" roughly the same time "Whatever People Say I Am" did. Also like many Brit Bands to debut in this period, the sound of The Strokes informs The Kooks' garage-guitars, along with a kind of all-us-guys band rush that makes this album well worth a listen. There's plenty of three minute power-shots scattered around "Inside In/Inside Out" to kick up the adrenaline.

What helps The Kooks stand out is that bandleader Luke Pritchard (vocals/guitar) can write songs that add dimension to the album. "Eddie's Gun" may come across as a punky-pressure cooker, but it is followed up by "Ooh La," an acoustic mid-tempo number based on an acoustic riff. There's a goodly amount of lead guitar that rises above the garage level, courtesy of Hugh Harris. Plus a confidence in their playing the belies their youth, but what really made me sit up and take notice was just melodic many of the songs here are. I thought of Razorlight's self titled second album often as "Inside In" was playing the more tuneful songs, like "She Moves in Her Own Way" or "Naive."

Like most of the bands mentioned in this review, The Kooks have one other link. They are quintessentially British sounding (you can throw comparisons to The Kinks and Oasis in here if you prefer). They're a bit rough at the edges still (the title "Jackie Big Tits" should have been dropped) a problem that the next album, "Konk," remedies in a big way, yet too melodic to share the same pedestal as the Monkeys. If that kind of brash Britishness appeals you, then you're going to enjoy The Kooks' debut.